Indian Christians arrested for attending Maundy Thursday service

India

Move follows unfounded allegations of religious conversion by right-wing Hindu groups

Police in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state charged 55 Christians who took part in a Maundy Thursday service with violating a law that criminalizes religious conversion following complaints by right-wing Hindu groups.

Among them, 26 people were arrested and later released on bail, but police say they are searching for others included in the first information report (FIR).

Christian leaders denied the allegations and said the Maundy Thursday service on April 14 was “portrayed as a religious conversion activity and those who attended it were harassed for no fault of their own.”

Some 70 believers of the Evangelical Church of India gathered at their church in Fatehpur in Harihar Ganj district for the service to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples before he was crucified.

One Christian said right-wing Hindu activists who gathered outside the church locked its two main gates. “They then began to shout slogans like ‘Stop conversion’ among other things,” he said.

When police arrived at the scene after being alerted about the incident, they questioned the Christians about their details and kept them inside the church for close to three hours.

“We were told that we were kept in the police station for our own safety, but when we were taken for a medical examination we realized that we were being charged”

Hindu leaders also entered the church and demanded the personal details of the Christians.

Officers then took the Christians, including women and children, to the police station on the assumption that they were being taken to their homes.

Later that night, the women and children were allowed to go home while 26 males were kept in custody.

“We were told that we were kept in the police station for our own safety, but when we were taken for a medical examination we realized that we were being charged,” said one of the Christians.

The following day they were taken to court and nine of them were bailed and the rest were remanded in judicial custody and released on April 16.

Police reportedly withdrew the charges of violating the state’s anti-conversion law. However, they were charged under provisions of the Penal Code that deal with intimidation and creating rifts or hatred between religious groups.

“Police should have arrested those men who created a ruckus at a peaceful prayer meeting but to my knowledge no FIR was registered against them” 

“Instead of helping the Christians who were bearing the brunt of false accusations and threats from right-wing groups, police took them to the police station in the night. Those taken the police station included women and children. That is not right,” Promod Singh, a Delhi-based lawyer who assisted the Christians, told UCA News on April 19.

“Police should have arrested those men who created a ruckus at a peaceful prayer meeting but to my knowledge no FIR was registered against them.” 

Uttar Pradesh leads Indian states where Christians face persecution, especially in 2021 with 105 violent attacks against the religious minority.

Data released recently by the United Christian Forum, an inter-denominational Christian organization, showed that 2021 was one of the worst years for Christians as they faced persecution across India.

As many as 486 incidents of violent attacks on the minority community and its institutions were reported in 2020, the highest since the 328 reported the previous year.

They were also far more widespread than previously recorded, with incidents reported in 20 states and two union territories, said the report.

As of April 13 this year, Christians had suffered 127 attacks across the country.

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